"I know of few people that really understand music on all its levels like Nathan Michel. He's been working on his doctorate in music composition at Princeton University, one of the most elite universities in the world, for the past several years and seems to be able to play almost any instrument as well. (On 'The Beast' he plays: acoustic, electric, nylon string, and bass guitars, bongos, computer, drum set, egg shakers, hand His music is rooted almost entirely in acoustic instruments, but all are recorded separately, edited, processed and rearranged in the computer to leave a slightly digital feel. This puts Nathan simultaneously among the company of laptop deviants like Dat Politics and Max Tundra as well as the true masters of studio recording like Todd Rundgren, Jeff Lynne, and Brian Wilson." (Jason Forrest)